Barrel-cover.



PATENTED DEC. 3, 1907.

- J.F.EAST.'

BARREL COVER.

. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 17, 1906 anvento'z J V (Inez-nag JOHN F. EAST,OF NORFOLK, VIRGINIA.

BARREL-COVER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 3, 1907. I

Application filed August 17, 1906. Serial No.- 331.052-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. EAsT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Norfolk, in the county of Norfolk and State of Virginia,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Barrel-Covers, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawing.-

This invention relates to improvements in barrel covers, andparticularly to a flexible wood-fiber cover.

The object of the invention is the construction of a cover adapted toconform to the contour or shape of the contents of a barrel when in aheaped-up condition.

Another object of the invention is the construction of a flexible,ventilated wood-fiber cover.

A further object of the invention is the construction of a ventilatedcover which will conform to the contour of the contents of a barrel whenin a heaped-up condition, and which cover can be quickly secured to orremoved from the barrel.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel constructions, combinations, and arrangements of parts, as will behereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan view of my improved cover. Fig.2 is an inverted plan view of the cover depicted in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is aperspective view of my cover showing the same applied to a barrelcontaining produce in a heaped-up condition.

Prior to my invention, in the shipment of vegetables, such as kale,spinach, and cabbage, and in fact, many kinds of fruits, barrelsprovided with burlap covers were employed The purpose of the burlapcover was for ventilation and accessibility to examinethe contents ofsaid barrel. These burlap covers were usually made from waste material,and were unsanitary. To minimize the cost of the covers, and, overcomeany objectionable feature thereto, I have invented the hereinafterspecifically described wood-fiber cover.

In the drawings, 1 and 2 designate parallel,

outer,'Wo0d-fiber strips, which are positioned at right-angles toparallel strips 3 and 4. Intermediate strips 5 and 6 are interwovenbetween said strips 1, 2, 3, and 4. It will be obvious, upon referringto the drawings, that all of the strips of the cover are interwoven.

The outer strips 1, 2,3, and 4 are secured together, by suitablefastening means, as for instance, staples 7. The flexible, interwovenstructure is reinforced for producing a highly eflicient device, and forthis reason, I employ reinforcing members, preferably wires, 8 and 9.These reinforcing members or wires are, of necessity, of sufficientresiliency to accommodate the different shapes assumed by the cover. Thereinforcing wires are crossed, as at 10, and are interwoven among thestrips of the cover. The wires are straddled by the staples or fasteningmeans 7. The ends 10 of said wires are bent over, Fig. 2,

and are positioned substantially parallel.

with the strips of the head and the body portion of said wires. Thebending of the ends of these reinforcing members or wires not onlyplaces the ends out of the way, but also insures no sliding movement,thereby preventing said reinforcing members being displaced oif of saidstrips; furthermore, the members 8 and 9 secure the strips of the headtogether until the staples 7 are forced through said strips.

It will be obvious that I do not limit myself to wires as thereinforcing means for the wood-fiber cover, because I have described thesame as reinforcing members, which contemplates employing other kinds ofmetal reinforcing means, in the construction of the cover, as forinstance, ordinary metallic strips of sheet-metal, or the like.

My flexible cover or head is usually attached to the barrel 11 (of anypreferred structure) after said barrel has been filled with the produceto be shipped, by placing a hoop or ring 12 over said head or cover, andforcing the hoop down upon the sides of the barrel. While it isunnecessary to heapup the contents of the barrel, the flexibility of thecover will. permit the same to be accommodated to such conditions. Itwill be 0bvious that by reason of securing the cover to the barrel byhoop 12, the same can be quickly attached or detached as desired.

The strips employed in constructing the cover are of very thinwood-fiber, whereby a head of substantially the flexibility of burlap orsimilar cloth is produced. By reinforcing the flexible cover, the sameis doubly strengthened. It will also be noted that all of the ends ofthe wood strips employed in constructing the cover are left free.

From the foregoing description, and upon reference to the accompanyingdrawing, it is to be understood that the outer strips are positioned atright-angles to each other, and that the staples extend through theengaging, crossed portions of the outer strips; owing to the two-partstructure of the sta ples, a rigid fastening-means is obtained forolding the entire cover together, which will prevent any independent,pivotal movement or sagging of the outer strips of the cover, whichwould likely be the case if an ordinary tack or single-piece fasteningmeans was em loyed instead of the staples. The interme iate interwovenstrips are retained in their assembled position upon the outer strips,without being held by any fastening means. By reason of the interwovenstructure of the fastening means 7, under normal conditions, the coveris retained at all times in its assembled, circular shape. The fasteningof the outer strips together forms a substantially squareframe, betweenwhich the unfastened interwoven strips 5 and 6 are positioned.

What I claim is:

1. A flat, flexible wood-fiber barrel cover, comprising flat, crossedstrips having their ends free, a straight reinforcing member extendingacross said strips and provided with hooked ends, the outer stripspositioned at right-angles to each other, and each of said hooked endspositioned over the outer edges of a plurality of outer,angularly-disposed strips and upon opposite sides of said strips forpreventing displacement of said reinforcing member off of said stripsand securing said strips together.

2. A flat wood-fiber barrel cover, comprising interwoven, crossed,flexible strips having their ends free, crossed reinforcing membersinterwoven between said strips and extending across theengaging-portions of the outer strips intermediate the ends of saidstrips, and staples straddling said wires and extending through theengaging-portions of the outer strips, thereby rigidly securing saidwires and outer strips together.

3. A flat, flexible, wood-fiber barrel cover, comprising interwovenstrips having their outer ends free, and reinforcing members interwovenwith said strips and having each of their outer ends bent around theouter edges of a lurality of the outer strips for securing all 0 thestrips together.

4. A flat, flexible wood-fiber barrel cover, comprising interwovenstrips having their outer ends free, and reinforcing means extendingentirely across the interwoven portion of said strips and surroundingthe outer edges of the outer strips and positioned u on opposite sidesof said strips for securing a l of the strips together.

5. A flat wood-fiber barrel cover, comprising interwoven flexible stripshaving their ends free, the outer strips disposed at rightangles to eachother, each outer strip extending across a plurality of theangularlydisposed, outer strips intermediate their ends, and staplesextending through the engaging-portions of the angularly-disposed outerstrips, thereby rigidly securing said outer strips together andpreventing independent movement of said outer strips with respect toeach other. 4

6. A flat, circular wood-fiber barrel cover, comprising interwoven,crossed strips having their ends free, and reinforcing means extendingacross the engaging portions of said strips and positioned intermediatethe ends of said strips and extending over a plurality of the side-edgesof the outer strips for preventing displacement of said reinforcingmeans and securing said strips together.

7. As a new article of manufacture, a flat, flexible wood-fiber barrelcover, comprising interwoven outer and intermediate strips having theirends free, each outer strip extending across a plurality of outer stripsintermediate their ends, and double fastening means extending througheach of the engaging and crossing portions of the outer strips forrigidly securing all of the outer strips together, and thereby securingthe intermediate strips together upon said outer strips.

8. As a new article of manufacture, a flat wood-fiber barrel cover,comprising interwoven, flexible strips having their ends free, each ofthe outer strips crossing a plurality of outer strips intermediate theirends, and fastening means extending through the engaging and crossingportions of the outer strips for fixedly securing all of the stripstogether.

9. A flat wood-fiber barrel cover, comprising flexible, interwovenstrips having their ends free, the outer strips crossing intermediatetheir ends, reinforcing means extending across all of and of less lengththan said strips, said reinforcing means positioned around the edges ofa plurality of outer strips and upon opposite sides of a plurality ofcrossed portions of the outer strips.

10. As a new article of manufacture, a flat, flexible wood-fiber barrelcover, com rising interwoven strips having their ends ee,

and fastening means extending transversely through the crossed portionsof some of the strips for securing all of the stri s together.

11. As a new article of manufacture, a fiat flexible wood-fiber barrelcover, comprising interwoven strips having their ends free, andreinforcing means extending entirely across all of and of less lengththan said strips, and said reinforcing means positioned around the edgesof the outer strips and upon opposite 10 sides of the engaging andcrossing portions of the outer strips.

Iii testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN F. EAST. Witnesses:

A. B. CAREY, J W. HALSTEAD.

